Mistletoe Kisses
by Danni1989
Summary: Sick of Elena not admitting to her feelings for him, Damon pulls away from Elena completely. Once Elena comes to terms with her feelings it may be too late. Will a festive Christmas plant bring them together? Written for the LJ A2A holiday exchange.


Here it is, the final Xmas one shot from yours truly. Written for the LJ A2A holiday exchange for a prompt by elizabeth85cec. Hope you enjoy it, and sorry its so late, posting it more or less just in the nick of time.

* * *

"Damn it!" Elena shouted after her call went to voice mail for the fiftieth time. She tossed her phone across the room before immediately rushing over to the small piece of technology, inspecting it for damage. How would he get a hold of her if she smashed her phone?

"What's going on?" Jeremy asked rushing into her room with a worried expression on his face.

"He's not answering my calls. What if something went wrong? What if he's hurt?" Elena asked, all the possible scenarios playing through her mind.

"He's Damon, there could be countless reasons he's not answering his phone. Something doesn't have to be automatically wrong." Jeremy assured her.

"He's never ignored me before." Elena said softly.

"Maybe he's not. Maybe he's out, maybe he lost his cell phone charger and his phone is dead." Jeremy offered.

"I don't think that's it." Elena sighed.

"When did it start to matter to you that he wasn't around? It's always been all about Stefan for you?" Jeremy questioned.

"It hasn't been all about Stefan for a long time. It's been more about Damon for longer than I'm willing to admit." Elena admitted.

"What are you going to do Elena? You've put him through the wringer for so long now." Jeremy asked.

"I don't know. But I do know that Damon would never leave me. He's probably just taking a breather." Elena decided.

"If you're sure." Jeremy added, before walking out of her room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After two more days of silence, Elena drove over to the Boarding House and parked in her usual spot. Damon's Camaro wasn't there and Elena sighed audibly. She walked inside and found Stefan poring over a book in the parlour.

"Have you seen Damon?" Elena asked when she walked into the room.

"Not lately." Stefan admitted, never pulling his attention away from the book.

"Is he avoiding me?" Elena asked allowing some of the hurt she was feeling seep into her voice.

"I doubt it Elena, but I'm busy. I don't have time for this right now." Stefan muttered looking at her for the first time.

"Whatever." Elena sighed leaving the house without a backward glance to her ex-boyfriend. She walked back out to her car and climbed in, she revved the engine and sped away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Damon seen her car speed away he parked his pride and joy in the driveway. It was getting tiresome avoiding her like this.

"Elena was here." Stefan called when he walked in the house.

"And I care why?" Damon demanded, immediately pouring himself a glass of bourbon.

"Maybe because you care about her?" Stefan suggested.

"I've cut her off Stefan. I'm done. Finished. I've decided to take a completely different road and stop caring about what that one woman thinks of me. She'll never think of me the way I want her to, so I give up. She's going to have to learn to live life without me." Damon decided, his voice sounding stronger than he felt.

"You're going to be able to do that?" Stefan asked raising his eyebrows.

"It's quite easy when I don't have to see her. Eventually it'll get easier and someday I'll be able to see her without wanting her desperately." Damon stated. "I need to stop letting one woman control my entire existence and if avoiding her and cutting her off completely is the only way to do that then fine." Damon stated resolutely.

"Good luck with that. I find it funny that once Elena and I finally break up, it's you that is completely cutting her off. I thought you would have been always waiting in the wings to comfort her when that happens." Stefan shook his head.

"I'm not that desperate. I will not be the rebound guy for the girl whose favourite line happens to be "it will always be Stefan."" Damon noted.

"So you're just going to avoid her?" Stefan clarified.

"I am going to avoid her until I know its safe for me to leave, and then I am leaving." Damon told his brother.

"So you still care enough to make sure she's safe?" Stefan added.

"I never said I didn't care about her anymore. I just don't want anything to do with her, therefore I am going to make sure she's safe. Then I am going to drive off into the sunset... alone." Damon explained.

"Like I said... good luck with that brother. I really do hope this one thing works out for you." Stefan sighed before turning back to his book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_"So you're coming tomorrow right?_" Caroline's voice came through the phone.

"I guess so, I don't really have a choice do I?" Elena sighed.

"_No, not really. It's the Lockwood Christmas party, you can't miss that. It's social suicide."_

"I'll be there, I'm just hoping I can get a certain Salvatore to join me." Elena murmured.

"_Ooooh, you and Stefan? I'm so happy that you finally got that ugly infatuation with Damon out of your system." _

"I have to go Care, I'll see you tomorrow night." Elena stated hanging up the phone. She didn't even want to touch on the comment about her "ugly infatuation" with Damon.

She walked into the Grill and smiled when she seen the familiar body clad in a leather jacket sitting with his back towards her. She took a deep breath that she didn't need anymore since she became a vampire and walked over to him.

"Damon..." She started.

"That seat's taken." He grumbled.

"Where have you been?" She demanded taking the other seat on the other side of him.

"That one is taken too." He stated.

"No its not. You're here alone." She stated annoyed with him.

"No I'm not. My date just went to the bathroom. She'll be right back." He smirked.

"You have a date? What are you doing Damon? You know Stefan and I broke up." She stated, in shock.

"Oh, so basically I was supposed to just wait until you and Stefan ended your epic romance and then you would fall directly into my arms and everything would be perfect? It doesn't work like that anymore Elena. Maybe it used to but not anymore.

I'm not that desperate." He hissed as he threw back his drink.

"I broke up with Stefan! That was what you wanted!" She stated.

"It was what I wanted, but not what I want anymore. I'm finished. I've had enough. You had me wrapped around your little finger for far too long Elena. I've found that I still have some level of self-respect and I can walk away." He muttered.

"Damon..." She started again.

"I have to go." He stood up and walked out. She steeled her nerves and rushed after him.

"What will it take for you to believe me that I want to be with you?" She asked when she caught up to him.

"You can't convince me." He told her as he unlocked his door.

"I will though. Damon you can rest assured that I will convince you that I want to be with you." She spoke stubbornly. She tilted her chin up defiantly and stared into his eyes. Neither backed down until Damon shook his head.

"I can't wait to see you try. Good luck Elena." He muttered climbing into his car and starting up the engine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow Elena, you look HOT."Caroline enthused when Elena walked through the door of the Lockwood house for the Christmas party the next day.

"Thank you." Elena spoke confidently. Her outfit was step one in getting Damon to realize what he meant to her. If he couldn't take his eyes off of her, at least then she would be able to hold his attention long enough to talk some sense into him.

"You're really going all out to get your relationship with Stefan back on track." Caroline grinned.

"This isn't for Stefan, Care. This is for someone else." Elena stated before walking away. She walked past a mirror and stopped to preen for a moment, needing to make sure she looked perfect for when he walked in. The dress was blood red with a sweetheart neckline, displaying just a hint of her cleavage. It was very formfitting, highlighting her curves, it wrapped around her hips and dropped to about mid-thigh. She wore three inch black peep-toes with it and a silver bracelet. She kept her neckline bare, needing to draw his attention to her breasts and did her hair in voluminous curls. She grabbed a drink from a server who was circulating through the party and sipped it. Her nose crinkled when she sipped the champagne and eagerly watched the door. She knew that Damon couldn't miss a good party.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You are hot." Damon murmured to his tall, blonde and fake date.

"You're not so bad yourself." She whispered seductively. He rolled his eyes, this woman was trying way too hard. But if he was going to make it through the night with Elena being there he would need a distraction. He held the door open for her and she walked through adding more sway than necessary into her hips.

"Do you want a drink?" He asked, hoping that she would be easier to tolerate when she was drunk.

"Definitely." She smirked at him. He weaved through the crowds to the bar and ordered himself a glass of bourbon and his date a glass of wine. He looked over his shoulder and his gaze locked on Elena. He couldn't deny that she looked absolutely gorgeous. He shook his head and walked back over to his date, whose name he could not remember for the life of him.

"Do you want to dance?" She asked him purposely rubbing up against him.

"Sure." He sighed, needing to make it clear to Elena that he was over her. He had the pleasure of watching Elena's mouth drop open as he took the woman's hand and lead her onto the dance floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the hell is happening?" Elena snarled to Matt when she saw him standing off to the side.

"What are you talking about?" He asked confused by his ex girlfriend's explosion.

"Look at him out there, he's dancing with that blonde slut. Damon doesn't even like blondes all that much. Look at me and Katherine, his two actual relationships have been brunettes. What the hell is he playing at?" Elena demanded.

"I don't know Elena. Were you and Damon ever a couple?" Matt murmured, holding back a chuckle at her jealousy.

" Not technically. He is supposed to be dancing with me. He's supposed to be in love with me still." She whispered.

"What are you going to do?" Matt asked, worried about his friend.

"I am going to win him." Elena decided.

"How are you going to do that?" Matt asked, happy that she had a plan.

"I don't know. All I know is that its going to take a lot of effort on my part to not rip out that sluts throat." Elena threatened, her voice going dark again.

"My guess would be that Damon wouldn't like that much." Matt added.

When she saw Damon sidle up to the bar a little later, she immediately followed him up there.

"What are you doing Damon?" Elena asked.

"I'm getting a drink for me and my date." He answered.

"What's your dates name?" She asked knowingly.

"I don't know." He admitted.

"Why is it when I finally give in, that you give up?" She asked allowing some of her vulnerability come into her voice.

"No, you don't get to make me feel bad about this Elena. You made your choice." He spat at her and walked away. She quickly followed after him and grabbed his arm.

"I made the wrong choice Damon, can't you see that?" She cried causing Caroline and Stefan's gazes to flash over to them.

"It's too late to change your mind Elena. You could have taken back your choice at any point, but now its too late." He told her.

"It can't be too late. I'm in love with you." She begged.

"It's too late." He repeated.

"No its not." Elena tried again.

"You can't just say you love me Elena. What about next week when Stefan becomes your epic love again?" Damon demanded.

"That won't happen Damon. Please." She begged, hating how pathetic she felt.

"Excuse me Damon?" The forgotten date spoke up.

"What?" He demanded.

"You're standing under mistletoe." She murmured with a hopeful smile on her face. Damon saw the expression change in Elena's eyes and before he had time to comprehend the situation, she crushed her lips to his. When she noticed he wasn't kissing her back she kissed him harder. She shoved her tongue through his lips and played with his.

"Elena stop." He breathed when he managed to push her away from him.

"Why? I'm in love with you. I'm so past caring about what everyone else thinks. I love you Damon." She whispered. She caressed his face with the pads of her fingers and gazed directly into his eyes, hoping he could see the sincerity of her words in her eyes.

"Fuck." He murmured.

"What's wrong?" She asked still not taking her hands off of him. It's like she needed to stay in contact with him to make sure he never left.

"I'm never going to be able to fall out of love with you am I?" He asked rhetorically. Elena smiled and reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him. This time he kissed her back, he banded his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. She placed her hands on his chest and closed her eyes as he kissed her tenderly.

"I don't want to be here anymore." Elena whispered after a few minutes.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"Anywhere but here. I want to be alone with you." She whispered.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"I am more sure about this than I ever have been about anything." She promised him, kissing the corner of his mouth.

"Okay." He agreed standing up and taking her hand.

"What about your date?" Elena asked suddenly remembering the blonde that had been shadowing their movements over the past few minutes.

"She'll find her own way home I'm sure." Damon decided. At this particular moment he couldn't care less about the blonde he had come to the party with, he only cared about the brunette he was leaving with. He took her hand and walked by her side to the door before they were intercepted by a Stefan, and an angry Caroline.

"What do you think you're doing?" Caroline snapped.

"I'm leaving, with Damon." Elena answered.

"I didn't know you felt that way about him Elena." Stefan murmured, his gaze cast downward, refusing to look at either of them.

"Well I do, and I think that we deserve to be happy." Elena answered keeping her voice soft for Stefan. It wasn't wrong that he was upset, after-all they had just broken up.

"After everything you and Stefan have been through, you decide to walk out of here with Damon?" Caroline cried exasperated.

"I LOVE him Caroline. You'll never understand that because you stubbornly hold onto the evil things he's done, rather than look at all the good he's given us. He has saved my life on countless occasions, and put me above everyone else all the time. I love him, and I love that I can finally be honest about that without feeling guilty. All it took was almost losing him to make me realize who it is that I can't live without." Elena breathed, never once taking her eyes off of Damon's.

"I don't like who you became when you turned into a vampire." Caroline muttered.

"That's funny, because I now feel like who I was always meant to be. I'm closer to who I used to be, before the accident. Damon found me and brought me back from the brink. But I don't want to be here anymore. If you're looking for me and you want to discuss this calmly and rationally without judgement then you know where to find me." Elena stated before wrapping her arms around Damon's arm. He smiled briefly at her before she turned to Stefan. "I really am sorry about this, but the heart wants what it wants." She breathed.

"I can understand that. Somewhere deep inside I knew where this was headed and I knew it would be him eventually." Stefan sighed, giving in.

"Thank you." She murmured before nodding at Damon and they walked out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"God! When will they realize that I am not the same girl I used to be anymore?" Elena asked exasperated as Damon drove them to the Boarding House.

"Now I hate that I'm saying this but Caroline's heart is in the right place. She's just worried about you, I haven't been the greatest to her. She doesn't want the same thing to happen to you." Damon defended.

"I know you treated her horribly when you first came to town, but you changed. You changed so much that you saved her life! How can she hold that against you?" Elena snapped.

"Keep in mind I'm the reason she's a vampire." Damon added on.

"No, Katherine is the reason she's a vampire. You're the reason she's alive, even in this state. Without your blood, Katherine would have completely killed her instead of causing her to turn." Elena argued.

"I hate this Damon, will it always be like this? Will I always be ostracized from my friends because of the way I feel about you?" She asked when he parked the car.

"Probably, I haven't' made too many friends here in Mystic Falls. I'm not the easy choice Elena, we will have to work for everything we get. But I can promise you that you will never feel more loved or cherished than you do with me." He told her.

"I know, that's what made this decision so easy." Elena spoke softly, cupping his cheek in her hand.

"Let's go inside." He told her getting out of the car and meeting her at the front.

"I don't care what they think Damon, I just want to be with you. I want to show you the best way I know how desperately I want you, need you and love you." Elena whispered before kissing him. He willingly opened his mouth to accept her tongue as he backed them through the front door and up the stairs. She moaned when he moved his lips down her neck and started sucking on her pulse point.

"Damon..." She breathed needing more than what he was giving to her in that moment. She distractedly worked her way through the buttons on his shirt, and he rolled his shoulders back letting the material fall to the floor of the stairs. He knew logically he could flash them to his room, but he was far too focused on Elena to even suggest that. When they got to his floor he slowly backed her until her back hit his door. She ground against him and he pressed her back into the door. Unexpectedly she turned the knob and they spilled into the room in a tangled mess of limbs. Elena laughed loudly from the floor where Damon was sprawled on top of her. He joined in her laughter for a moment, before Elena silenced him with a kiss. This kiss was different, it was more tender and more loving than their previous passionate kisses were.

"I love you Damon." She whispered against his lips. Her words renewed the desperation and fervor inside him and he kissed her again; his body more desperate for hers than he had ever been before.

"I need you." He pleaded against her lips.

"You can have me." She answered pulling away so she could stand up and push the zipper on her dress down. She kicked off her black heels and stared up at him. Even with his lust addled brain he understood her invitation clearly. He slowly peeled the red dress off her body leaving her standing before him in a strapless black bra and a tiny pair of panties.

"You are exquisite." He whispered, She smiled brilliantly, having been worried she wouldn't be enough for him. He picked her up and immediately laid her down on the bed, he followed her down connecting their lips. She gently ran her hands down his back and over his ass before making the return trip back up.

"I need you." She insisted, grinding her lace covered core into him. He kissed down her neck and chest, dipping his tongue inside her belly button before slowly peeling the lace from her body. She lifted her hips, aiding him with the removal of her panties. He pressed a quick kiss to her bundle of nerves before kissing back up to her lips. She sat up slightly so she could remove her bra before laying back down on the bed.

"Damon... please." She begged, her arousal beginning to get painful. She had wanted for far longer than she was willing to admit. He stood up and she grumbled a bit at the separation until she saw him unbuttoning and unzipping his low slung black jeans. He quickly divested himself of the denim before returning to his previous position astride her body. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she grabbed hold of the base of his erection and guiding him to her entrance. She lifted her hips slightly when just the tip entered her and sighed audibly. He gently shoved the rest of the way in and groaned at the feeling of completion.

"So tight..." He breathed before he started slowly shifting his hips within her, stoking the flame that was burning inside her. He thrust slow and deep and Elena fought to keep her gaze locked on his. The connection was startlingly intense, neither could look away from the emotions radiating in the others eyes. Blue and brown remained locked on one another as they brought each other higher in an act that could only be described as making love. She cupped his face as they kissed and moved together in a rhythm as old as time.

"I'm close." She cried desperately when he hit a spot deep inside her that made her see stars.

"Please come for me." He pleaded feeling the onset of his climax. She squeezed her eyes shut and as the waves of her orgasm overtook her. He followed soon after her and called out her name as he spilled inside her chanting her name like a mantra over and over again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was so incredible. Thank you for that. I never would have pegged you as someone who would "make love" rather than fuck." She mentioned as they laid together in their post coital bubble.

"You were literally the first woman I've ever made love with Elena. With Katherine it was all just sex and blood. Every other woman doesn't even rank. With you it was love." He shrugged.

"I'm glad, it felt like love for me too." She assured him, pressing a kiss to his chest. The conversation died down for a moment and Damon closed his eyes, not nearly ready to get back to life.

"Damon?" Elena questioned.

"Yeah?" He answered not opening his eyes.

"I'm so sorry for everything I put you through. In my desperation to hide my feelings for you and not have anything change in my world, I hurt you so many times." Elena apologized.

"It's okay, don't worry about it now." He assured her, running his hand up and down her spine.

"It's not okay. I've hurt you so many times." Elena whispered.

"I'm resilient Elena, it's fine. I promise. I have you now remember." He added on before kissing her forehead.

"This is going to work right?" Elena asked after a couple moments.

"We'll make it work. It's not going to be easy, I know for a fact I am going to piss you off too much and you will be ready to give up. But I won't let you." He promised her.

"So what do we do now?" Elena asked.

"Well we stay here until tomorrow since neither of us having any important needs to attend to, and then we face the music on how we "ruined the Christmas party with our PDA"" Damon suggested.

"That sounds good to me. Caroline is going to be a nightmare, I wish she would just be my friend again." Elena agreed as she settled deeper into his embrace.

"Let's just lie here, we'll deal with all the crap tomorrow, since we both know nothing can be easy." He sighed closing his eyes. Elena voiced her agreement and shut her eyes, keeping her head over his heart and her arms wrapped tightly around him.


End file.
